Charles Square (Prague)
| Karlovo náměstí Karlsplatz |
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_(4).jpg) The park on Karlsplatz |
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| Basic data | |
| place | Prague |
| District | Prague New Town |
| Created | middle Ages |
| Newly designed | in the 20th century |
| Confluent streets | Žitná ul., Ječná ul., U Nemocnice, Vyšehradska ul., Na Morani, Resslova ul., Spalena, Vodičkova |
| Buildings | New Town Hall, monuments to Benedict Roezl , Jan Evangelista Purkyně , Karolína Světlá , Eliška Krásnohorská and Vítězslav Hálek ; fountain |
| use | |
| User groups | Pedestrian traffic , bicycle traffic |
| Space design | in the middle of the 19th century |
| Technical specifications | |
| Square area | 5.6 hectares |
The Karlsplatz ( Czech Karlovo náměstí ) in Prague's New Town was formed in the Middle Ages and in modern times the administrative and economic center and was Europe's arguably the greatest marketplace. Wenceslas Square has only recently assumed its central function .
history
With the construction of the New Town of Prague after 1348, King Charles IV had the cattle market ( Dobytčí trh in Czech ) established by widening a long-distance trade route across the Lesser Town of Prague , an important trading point for the slave trade in the early Middle Ages . With an area of around 550 x 150 meters, this was the largest square in Europe for a long time. It served mainly the cattle, fish, timber and coal trade. The horse market, which was also set up at the border to the old town during this period and was later renamed Wenceslas Square , served the trade in horses and weapons . The associated economic development of the emerging city of Prague led to the establishment of Charles University in Prague in 1348 .
Originally two long rows of market halls were planned for the cattle market, but apparently they could only be partially completed. They were built in the style of a basilica with a central nave illuminated by the upper aisle , which were connected by at least one cross passage and probably served the fish trade. Over time, the grain trade was relocated to the two streets crossing the market at right angles, which were then named Korngasse (now Žitná ulice ) and Barley Street (now Ječná ulice ).
In 1848 the square was renamed Karlsplatz and designed as a park between 1843 and 1863 . Numerous old trees such as linden , plane or chestnut trees have been preserved from this time . In the park there are monuments to Vítězslav Hálek , Eliška Krásnohorská , Jan Evangelista Purkyně , Benedict Roezl and Karolína Světlá .
Infrastructure
Charles Square is the central node of the Prague tram , where most of the lines meet. Also, here is the Karlovo náměstí of metro line B .
The Polytechnic of the Technical University , the General Hospital and the Charles Square Center shopping center are located on Karlsplatz .
architecture
Chapel of the Holy Blood or Corpus Christi
In the middle of the square stood a wooden tower, in which from 1354 the imperial regalia and relics were shown publicly once a year . King Charles IV had made the associated healing festival a public holiday in the Holy Roman Empire , which made Prague one of the most important pilgrimage centers in Central Europe.
The construction of the Chapel of the Holy Blood or Corpus Christi in place of the aforementioned tower was planned while Charles IV was still alive. However, it was only started in 1382 and completed around 1393. In 1437 the compacts were proclaimed in this chapel , an agreement between the Hussites in Bohemia and the Roman Catholic representatives at the Council of Basel . - Although the chapel was demolished in 1791, its shape can be reconstructed based on old engravings. It was a cross-shaped complex with a central tower. The relics were shown from the upper outer gallery. Between the arms of the cross, which except for the western one were closed polygonally, there were diagonally positioned, also polygonal side choirs. To protect the treasures, the chapel was surrounded by a ring-shaped wall with battlements and battlements with three gates. The chapel was based not only in terms of content but also in architecture on the Aachen Palatine Chapel , another important pilgrimage center in the late Middle Ages.
Neustadt town hall
The New Town Hall ( Novoměstská radnice ), which was built in the second half of the 14th century as a symbol of the independent royal town, is located in a dominant position on the northeast corner of the cattle market . The first lintel in Prague took place here in 1419 . A plaque on the facade facing Vodičkova honors imprisoned participants in the Whitsun uprising in Prague in 1848, three champions of the labor movement from 1879 and members of the Omladina Youth in 1893. In front of the New Town Hall there is a fountain with a statue of St. Joseph .
Faust House
The other sides of the cattle market were also built on quite quickly after the construction of the square, with mainly members of the nobility and the royal court settling here. On the south side of the square, for example, stood the Gothic palace of the Dukes of Troppau , whose property stretched far to the south. During the Renaissance the Faust House ( Faustův dům ) No. 40/502 was rebuilt and expanded with a bay window, among other things. After a further redesign between 1740 and 1770, the building presented itself in baroque forms.
As early as the 14th century, the residents of this house allegedly engaged in chemical experiments. In the 16th century the English adventurer and alchemist Edward Kelley had experimented with the house owner, Rudolf II's court doctor, Johann Kopp. The emperor had promised the production of gold and raised him to the nobility. Rudolf's successor, Emperor Matthias , later had Kelley imprisoned in the White Tower near the Georgskloster at Prague Castle . In the 18th century, chemist Ferdinand Antonín Mladota von Solopisk carried out experiments here again. This gave rise to the legend of Doctor Faustus in Prague, which was linked to the house. Nowadays it is quite aptly used as the hospital's pharmacy.
St. John of Nepomuk on the rock
On the south-west corner of Karlsplatz, right next to the Faust House, the two-winged entrance portal to the churchyard of the baroque church of St. Johannes Nepomuk rises on the rock. The front of the church with its outside staircase and the double tower facade, however, faces Na Slupi Street, which leads south from Karlsplatz.
Jesuit College and St. Ignatius Church
On the long east side of the square, after the demolition of 23 town houses and 13 gardens, the Jesuit college was built , along with the Clementinum and the younger Jesuit college of St. Niklas on the Lesser Quarter, the third branch of the order in Prague. The early Baroque two-storey pilasters were built between 1658 and 1667, but the north end of the college was not completed until 1770. After the abolition of the Jesuit order , the building served as a military hospital from 1773 and has been a hospital ( Všeobecná fakultní nemocnice, General Faculty Hospital ) since the 19th century . The Order of the Jesuits founded a new residence in 1866 in a house next to the church, which came back into their care. This convention was abolished in 1950.
The Jesuits appeared first in the Gothic Church of Corpus Christi to them in 1623 during the recatholicization in Bohemia by Ferdinand II. Had been bestowed with several properties. In the years 1665–1670, Carlo Lurago built the St. Ignatius Church ( Kostel sv. Ignáce ) as the first truly Baroque church on the right bank of the Vltava, based on plans by Giovanni Domenico Orsi . It is very similar to the Church of Il Gesù in Rome . On the front gable is a statue of St. Ignatius with a circle of rays from 1671. Paul Ignaz Bayer added the square tower and the arcade porticus in 1686–1699. At the same time, Antoni Soldati carried out the rich decoration of the facade and the interior of the church.
Web links
- Literature and other media by and about Karlovo náměstí in the catalog of the National Library of the Czech Republic
- Charles Square (Karlovo náměstí) - Prague tourist portal (German)
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b Michal Flegl: Prague, Olympia travel guide. Olympia-Verlag, Prague 1988, p. 243 ff.
- ↑ Thomas Rygl: Prague. ISBN 80-86893-51-0 .
Coordinates: 50 ° 4 ′ 34 " N , 14 ° 25 ′ 14" E